Senior Designer (Video & Animation) - 12 Month FTC Sabbatical Cover

About The Role

Role Overview

The Senior Designer (Video & Animation) role will work in Journey’s 59 Studio and will be part of 59’s multidisciplinary Design Department to research, develop, refine and design responses to a broad slate of creative challenges across 59 and Journey’s global project portfolio. 

59’s Design team is made up of video designers, animators, spatial designers, architects, lighting and technical designers. You will apply your video design/animation skills collaboratively, across a number of projects, to help realise our work. 

This role will suit someone with a minimum of 5 years’ experience designing for live performance, exhibition and/or installations or someone who has been working in another industry or context for some time and is looking to transfer their skills to 59 and Journey’s diverse, ever-expanding portfolio. 

Key Responsibilities

The essential functions include, but are not limited to the following:

Working with Project Directors and Designer Directors to analyse and interpret a client brief 

Attending client-facing design meetings alongside a Project Director and Design Director in order to assimilate and understand a creative brief 

Engaging in internal design discussions, reviews and critical feedback 

Supporting the delivery of internal and client-facing design presentations  

Demonstrating an understanding and an overview of the project as a whole 

Personally undertaking design work at a number of different developmental stages, which would include: 

Conceptual design 

Storyboarding 

Visualisation and communication to external parties 

Building reusable design templates and workflows in various software packages related to your specialism and design approach 

Maintaining project files and design assets 

Archiving projects 

Working with a Director to lead and execute the creative process on a project, having an awareness for the details on all aspects of the project 

Leading and coordinating the design process on multiple, varying scale projects with substantial budgets, taking them to completion 

Managing freelance teams and assisting with overseeing the delivery of projects on-site

Undertaking line management of Design Department team members as required 

Working as the lead designer for smaller scale projects, with the support of members of the Design team 

Managing your own time confidently and meeting deadlines 

Contributing to the ongoing work to generate a wider network of freelance/external company relationships 

Understanding the interdisciplinary nature of the 59 & Journey teams, contributing to understanding one another's workflows and processes in day-to-day work 

Investigating new ways of engaging audiences through the application of technology to narrative challenges 

Identifying opportunities for departmental development in both creative and technical areas, including the adoption of new hardware, and software-driven processes 

Undertaking other project and non-project creative and design work as reasonably required by the company

Contributing to 59's work around Sustainability, Belonging & Inclusion and Universal Design 

Candidate Specifications

Required

Minimum 5 years’ experience, education or training in video design and/or animation  

Demonstrable experience designing projects from pre-concept through to delivery on site  

Demonstrable interest in a story-driven design approach  

Excellent command of Adobe tools for motion graphics and video, especially After Effects, Photoshop and Premiere Pro 

A thorough understanding of digital media formats, including video codecs, 2D graphics and 3D model file formats 

An ability to multitask effectively and handle multiple workflows at any one time 

Evidence of a lateral thinking design ability to take a concept / brief and develop it into a specific form   

Ability to co-conceive design ideas / concepts in visual form with 59’s Design Directors, and communicate them to a wide range of stakeholders, clients, internal team, collaborating creative team, technical teams etc. 

A demonstrable ability to use research and organisational skills to dig deeper into project briefs

A good communicator who can convey creative ideas with passion as well as manage expectations  

A true interest in and ability to work in an interdisciplinary, collaborative environment and with a range of creatives and work as part of a team both within and external to the existing wider Journey team 

Knowledge of creating work in different territories, with a design portfolio that demonstrates a range of work in different mediums and storytelling formats (i.e. long-form video, music video, theatre show, exhibition, live events, VR etc.) 

Proficiency with the Microsoft and/or Google Suite

An ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines  

Desirable

Analogue and digital drawing skills 

Strong graphic design skills 

Familiarity with the wider Adobe Creative Suite softwares such as Indesign and Acrobat

Experience Keynote, PowerPoint and other layout and presentation software

Experience of 3D modelling, texturing, lighting and rendering using Cinema 4D, Blender or similar packages 

Experience of real-time content generation tools, such as Unreal, Touchdesigner, Unity, Notch or similar packages 

Experience of media servers and playback systems 

An understanding of recent key themes and industry shifts in video delivery within live events, performances and exhibitions 

Experience line managing Designers earlier in their careers with considered professional development and training opportunities 

Application: For your application to be considered, please submit a CV & portfolio/showreel demonstrating your experience, along with a bespoke cover letter explaining how your experience meets the required and desirable criteria of this role.

We ask that you write your application in your own words and manage any use of AI in the application process responsibly.

Location : This role is based within the 59 team at Journey’s Benwell Studio in London. We value regular in-person collaboration because we think it leads to the best creative work however hybrid working is available around project commitments. The specific team this role relates to generally works in the studio 3 days per week.

Contract: 12 months Sabbatical Cover

Deadline : Friday 13th November, 10am
Salary Pay Range
£44,000 — £60,000 GBP

About Journey

The Multidimensional Experience Agency

Journey is a global design and innovation agency shaping the future through multidimensional experiences (MDX) that connect people, brands, and culture.

Our layered MDX approach crafts story-driven, sensory-rich engagement across physical, immersive, digital, and virtual spaces—fuelled by creative and technological innovation.

Born from a legacy of pioneering studios, Journey blends strategic thinking with deep creative expertise to deliver solutions across industries.

Journey’s MDX approach fuels growth and forges lasting value for audiences and partners, by creating cultural connections that resonate with impact.

Start your journey here www.journey.world